Ahhh, sunshine and 73 degrees...a gorgeous day here in the Ukraine! Getting past customs was a little shaky and my first impression was that the language barrier is going to be very difficult here. After filling out the immigration form 3 times, access was granted to their new friend from the U S and A. My driver picked me up at the airport and drove me to the hotel. Apparently, traffic signals are optional here, and most intersections don't have stop or yield signs on any corner. It's sort of like a game of chicken, he who flinches first gets to stop at the corner and wait as the cars go by.
My hotel is average at best, but it's 10 blocks from the main street (Deribasovskaya). I'm only here 2 nights as for my apartment search started and ended in 3 minutes. Using the site hospitalityclub.org (another page out of The 4-Hour Workweek) I got in touch with an ex-patriot who gave me a large list of things to do. A phone call to him on my way to dinner last night resulted in the two of us meeting for a bite. Kevin turns out is from California and living in Odessa for a little over a year. He speaks Russian and gave me a few lessons that actually had me reading signs in about 3 minutes...cool! I can't understand a lick of it, but maybe I'll take some lessons while here.
In any event, dinner for two consisted of a sort-of Philly cheese steak sandwich for him, we split potato croquettes, and I had a chicken kabob dish...washed down with a coke for him, 2 waters for me, and a mini-carafe of vodka that probably poured a total of 3 or 4 vodkas each. All that was $26.00. Yikes, I'm a super magnate here....look out or I may just tip you 25%!
Ok, so Kevin...he's a real nice guy, one helluva host, probably 30 years old, and reminds me a lot of myself at that age...as for I, like him, was a jack of all trades, master of none. By the time I had reached that age, I had: a car wash/pressure clean/yard cleaning/moving furniture business during summers of college (called Nice College Kids), dabbled in sports gambling, had a short-lived sports-focused 900# business, owned 2 bars on south beach, had a minority interest in a start up telecom company that I later became more involved in, and for my day job, was VP of a family parking lot/garage business.
This guy's pretty much been all over Europe, and is currently working on: document translation services, business consulting, marraige consultant (uh oh), real estate broker (although not licensed), english teacher (again, not licensed), self improvement workshops similar to tony robbins stuff but more related to getting europeans to open up and smile, as well as a few other things. So, in our discussions about apartments, he gave me several options, most in the $95-$150/night range, then saved the best for last. A $70/night room in a 2 bedroom penthouse...as his roommate. I told him it was the best price I had seen, but I would have to see it first. I will get a video of it at a later date, but it was a cool place, probably about 2,000 square feet, and this guy speaks English AND Russian. Sold. I move in tomorrow afternoon...open ended. My guess is it'll be about a week or so, possibly longer, but we'll see.
I have photos and videos to load, but internet slow in the hotel...will do them soon. Tonight I'm off to watch the Futbol Champions League final match between 2 of my favorite teams, both from England. I'll be rooting for Chelsea. This is sort of the Super Bowl of Europe as for it's the final game of a competition between the top teams in each European country. Very rare that 2 teams from one country are in the final...sort of like 2 teams from the same state making the super bowl or world series, although it does happen (mets/yankees) so it's a pretty big match.
Again, great emails I'm receiving and glad that my typing is not falling on deaf ears. Keep them coming.
Nostrovia!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment